The Alvis Speed 20 SA now offered for sale at The Classic Motor Hub (chassis number 10157) left the works and was sent to Vanden Plas where it was fitted with the open tourer coachwork you see today, body number 1959. Finished in April 1933, the car was sent down to Harris & Day in Cardiff and registered KG 2417 and delivered to its first owner Mr. C. Keen of Llanishen near Cardiff. He kept the car for 3 years until 1937 when the car made the move across the border to Warwickshire to a Mr. G. Austin.

The car is thought to have been kept here through the war until the end of hostilities after which it was bought by Alf Nattriss in Mapperley, Notts who bought the car in 1946, and is believed to have been used in the RAC Rally as well as the Silverstone Speed Trials in 1949. Alf sold the car to a Mr. Rodwell who in turn sold it to Andrew Beacroft in 1963. There is correspondence on file from Mr. Beacroft including a photo of ‘KG’ on his parents driveway in 1963.

A few years later Andrew sold this Speed 20 to a young naval helicopter pilot called John Zwozny who used it for a few years before deciding to embark on a restoration with invoices on file stretching right back to 1967 for a number of parts including correspondence with Alvis themselves. Sadly, half way through the restoration John was killed in a helicopter crash in 1971 and the car passed to his brother who continued the restoration as best he could but eventually the car was left in their garage for the next 30-odd years. In 1999 the Speed 20 (now owned by John Zwozny’s mother) was bought by John Holmes of Nuthall near Nottingham. He embarked on a full nut-and-bolt restoration from the ground up, returning it to the original black colour with dark red interior and red wheels.

After having return KG 2417 to her former glory the decision was made to auction the Speed 20 in 2002 and it was here the car was bought by then Chairman of Liverpool Football Club, David Moores, whose family had owned a majority stake in the football club for over 50 years. Mr. Moores had plans to use and enjoy the car but as is so common for a gentleman in his position, time was a rare commodity and the car spent the next 2 years in a showroom in Southport. Resigned to the fact that the car wouldn’t be used as intended the car was given to Mike Abbas to sell and the current vendor bought her in October 2014. Upon purchasing the car the current owner instructed Robin Bendall to check her over and subsequently spent £4,000 having various work done to rectify an overheating issue.

After a few years of use the owner wasn’t completely satisfied with the tappet noise on the engine and after a few enquiries decided to take the plunge and have the engine rebuilt to such a level that it would never need doing again, as any fastidious owner would do! Between 2009 and 2010 the Speed 20 was with Red Triangle where the engine was stripped and sent to Phoenix to be “bulletproofed” by fitting a new Phoenix crankshaft and connecting rods. A new clutch was fitted at the same time and the resulting bill totalled nearly £15,000 GBP.

This Alvis Speed 20 is now offered for sale in wonderful condition and is now ready to go for tours, rallies or leisurely use.